In June 2023, the news was publicly announced: the entire university was going to ‘merge’ with the hospital, a unique collaboration in the Netherlands that even required a change in the law. A quartermaster was appointed, Dedan Schmidt, who was going to sound out both organisations, because what did the community think about the plans? What are people's fears? What do they look forward to? “This initial process was very useful,” says President Letschert now. “But there comes a time when you keep hearing the same things.” She was also increasingly ‘blamed’ for remaining too distant as President. “But that is not the case, and it is not what I want either. That’s why Helen and I have decided to become more involved. That feels better. We can talk directly with people who want to speak out or who feel concerned, without any interference.” Letschert has “cleared” her agenda for the new year: every other week, she will spend an entire day on the ‘integration’. This marks the end of Schmidt’s tasks.
Concerns
What has come out of the four months of ‘exploration’? “Most people are very positive, they think it’s brave, exciting, and see the advantages for the region, but there are also many questions: ‘If we become a larger organisation, will it also become more bureaucratic?’ ‘Will faculties and researchers keep their academic freedom?’ I fully understand the concerns and we will have to deal with these carefully. We don’t know yet what the governance model will be; we are talking with experts about this, with people within our organisations, and we will need to determine what model fits in with our strategy. We also want to know what university representatives in the councils think of it.”
Earlier, she said about the ideal management model in Observant that it should be “sustainable, regardless of who is on what board seat”.
Health university
Whatever label you put on it: integration or merger, the hospital and UM will be equal partners, Letschert explained a few months ago. “The identities of the two institutions will remain intact.” With their own themes, but also with a shared strategy. The latter will be aimed primarily at a healthy society and new medical technology – elements that were already highlighted in the first press release last summer.
“Some people assumed that everything will revolve exclusively around these two health-related themes, as if we will decree these from above. But that is not the case. Faculties can continue to follow their own course.” Letschert keeps emphasising: for UM, topics such as Europe, globalisation, sustainability and circularity are and will remain important. According to Letschert, it is only “logical” that those existing “core themes” of UM “will be developed further; themes that will partly also strengthen the distinctive features of MUMC and intensify our efforts at the Brightlands campuses”.
Asked why a merger is actually necessary, Helen Mertens and Letschert said in September, during an online Q&A session, that a “more robust organisation” will be better able to cope with social challenges, such as the aging population and the lack of balance in demand and supply in health care. Another reason they gave is the situation in the Netherlands. “Look at the clusters elsewhere in the country, for example around cities such as Leiden, Delft and Rotterdam, where universities and hospitals get together; this means that we need to join forces, also because it is becoming increasingly costly to maintain expensive infrastructures,” they explained.
At the beginning of the new year, there will be an interview with Rianne Letschert and Helen Mertens about the merger plans.